Marc Cherry (born March 23, 1962) is an
American writer and
producer, best known for creating the show
Desperate Housewives.
Career
Early career
Cherry was born and raised in
Oklahoma. His father was an accountant which required the family to relocate to California. After graduating from
Troy High School in
Fullerton,
California, Cherry attended
California State University, Fullerton's theater program and initially considered a career in performance. After winning $15,000 as a contestant on
The $100,000 Pyramid in 1986
, he decided to move to Hollywood and pursue writing work. His move came at a bad time; the 1988 writer's strike hit as soon as Cherry arrived. Cherry broke into the industry by working as
Designing Women star
Dixie Carter's personal assistant.
[www.wga.org/writtenby/writtenbysub.aspx?id=1762 www.wga.org]
In 1990, he became a writer and producer for the long-running hit
sitcom The Golden Girls. Cherry wrote for the show, and its short lived spinoff
The Golden Palace.
When those shows concluded, Cherry co-created
The 5 Mrs. Buchanans. The concept of the show centered around the matriarch of the family (played by
Eileen Heckart) and the wives of her four sons. The show had a brief run on CBS during the 1994-1995 season.
Cherry also co-created
The Crew (1995). On his own, he later created
Some of My Best Friends, a 2001 sitcom that was based in part on the film
Kiss Me, Guido.
Desperate Housewives
In 2002, a conversation with his mother inspired him to develop a show about the fractured lives of four
upper middle class suburban women. After
HBO,
FOX,
CBS,
NBC,
Showtime, and
Lifetime Television all passed on the show, Cherry got his big break when his agent was arrested and went to jail for embezzlement. His new agents brought the show to
ABC, which decided to pick it up. The series,
Desperate Housewives, was an immediate ratings smash and generated enormous national (and subsequently, international) debate. Cherry received several lucrative offers from various parties, but chose to sign a long-term deal with
Touchstone, since their network had shown faith in
Desperate Housewives when no one else would.
The show was a phenomenon for much of its first season, but was criticized by TV critics who said the second season of
Desperate Housewives was not as creative or as good as the first. Viewers seemed to agree, since the ratings dropped as the season progressed. Cherry, the
Head Writer, who had been working part-time on the show in season two, took a larger role in developing and producing season three.
Cherry has featured several actors on "Housewives" that he has worked with before;
Mark Moses, who played
Paul Young, and
Harriet Sansom Harris, who played
Felicia Tilman, were both cast members of
The 5 Mrs. Buchanans. In season three, Cherry cast former boss
Dixie Carter in the role of
Gloria Hodge, Orson's unhinged mother. Actor
Alec Mapa, who appeared in
Some of My Best Friends, appears on "Housewives" in a recurring role as Gabrielle's stylist.
Other credits
Cherry appeared as himself in an episode of
Arrested Development, which was created by fellow
Golden Girls writer
Mitchell Hurwitz.
Political affiliation
Cherry was described in an article about him in
Newsweek as a "somewhat conservative, gay
Republican."
[Sex and the Suburbs - Newsweek Entertainment - MSNBC.com]
On
June 29 2006, Cherry accepted
Log Cabin Republicans' American Visibility Award at a dinner in
Hollywood where the main award recipient was California Governor
Arnold Schwarzenegger, who received the club's "Courage To Lead" Award.
[Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger Makes Strong Case for Equality at Log Cabin Republicans Dinner in Los Angeles]
